ROOIBANK – The Topnaars living on the outskirts of Walvis Bay received exclusive rights to control tourism activities and also be part of nature conservation along the Kuiseb River in the Erongo Region.
Topnaars are mainly unemployed and generate money and sustain themselves through farming as well as the harvesting and selling of the !Nara plant, which grows in the Namib Desert along the river.
The community received concession rights from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism that will enable them to operate various tourism activities in the Kuiseb Delta conservation area.
The launch of the concession took place last week Thursday outside Walvis Bay at Rooibank.
The newly granted concession rights will allow the holders to generate additional income from tourism activities and at the same time allow them to control, protect and conserve the !Nara plant, Topnaar graves, historical homesteads, animal prints and other historical sites, as well as the entire fauna and flora in the area.
The Topnaars will not only generate money for tourism activities but will now also be able to charge tourists for entry permits to visit the area while any touring of the delta will only be done in the presence of a Topnaar tour guide.
The tourism concession rights were approved on June 13 by the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Uahekua Herunga.
The tourism rights which are valid for 25 years were signed by the Kuiseb Delta Trust, which handles the affairs of the concession and the ministry.
Speaking at the launch of the Kuiseb Delta Concession, on behalf of Herunga, the Governor of the Erongo Region, Cleophas Mutjavikua, said the concession will play a very critical role as it will promote access to delicate historic and protected areas and create income-generating projects for the Topnaars.
“The government aims to provide economical benefits to all. Therefore we must take such opportunities seriously and develop ourselves,” stated the regional governor.
The Kuiseb Delta Development Trust (KDDT) will be responsible for the administration of tourism activities and collection of proceeds on behalf of the entire Topnaar community.
According to Mutjavikua, 30 percent of the proceeds collected will be used by the trust for developmental programmes of the community, 10 percent will go towards the education of Topnaar children while 60 percent will remain in the trust’s coffers for operations such as construction of community campsites and maintenance of vehicles.
The concession rights will be managed by a committee of 13 members that was elected with assistance of the traditional authority and the Erongo Regional Council. The committee members are from all settlements in the area.